Hi all, So this is a little confusing for me - why I am asking on here - we have a massive big black circle cold water tank in our loft - not far next to it another water tank which looks tiny compared to the big one - so the Kitchen of course runs of mains - as well as the upstairs bathroom, downstairs bathroom and utility and thats all we have - we have a old boiler and heating system (needs updating but its just finding the money to do so) that has a hot water cylinder etc. in the cupboard. Not long ago we had banging noises kept coming from the hallway radiator and also bathroom we had to replace the water pump (funny story - I forgot to put the washers on lol and had a little bit of a leak in the lounge - oops) - we had just redone upstairs so we had a big bathroom with a large radiator in the rear end but now we have had other kids and need a new bedroom so we have had to redo the bathroom - connected that to the hallway radiator which we connected at the same time. so I was in the bathroom and came out and heard the water tank in the loft re-filling - its not overflowing or anything but what is running off this massive tank - i know the smaller one is for Central Heating. so in the bedroom we are currently working on there is a small leak on the rad connector - so very rarely - its seemed to stop now we get a few drips of water coming through the roof in the garage. some of the radiators we bought second hand . such as the one that has the very slow leak and also one in our bedroom, and the dining room. these all have black water when we drain them however the others don't - our bedroom is the worst - when you bleed it (very rare we have to) but water is blacker than black - any ideas why I heard the massive tank re-filling when no taps or baths, toilets etc. are connected - also what would this be providing water too and if its for the HW cylindar then that the hell does the small one do - its all a mess for me- make it easyer Why did I hear the massive ET filling when no appliance runs off it. If this tank is for the hot water cylindar than what the hell does the tiny tanks do and what does it conncect too? thanks
Waterboy, if you heard the large tank refilling, that's fine - it's the one that supplies your hot cylinder. If you heard the small tank refilling, that ain't so good - it suggests a loss of water in your separate boiler system. Your boiler and rads and the heating coil in your hot cylinder have a separate water system - it is kept apart from the hot tap water because of contaminants (anti-rust chemicals, etc) and also to prevent corrosion. This is what the small tank does. It's an 'expansion' tank, so when your boiler comes on and the water in the rads heats up the water expands and is pushed up in to that tank. When it cools again, it refills the system from that tank. It should hardly ever actually top itself up using the ball valve - only when water is lost through evaporation or tiny leaks.
Ok thanks. How exactly does it not overfill though - because both of the tanks have no lid or anything so if it was to over-fill it would flood through the loft and through upstairs roof
Also the radiator in the "new bedroom" (Still not complete - still looks like a bathroom thats had everything ripped out - still some wall tiles on) that does have a small leak but not much at all - havent even seen it leaking for a while now and we havent touched it when it was leaking so its probaly "sorted itself out"
I have just one overflow pipe coming out the front of the house - nothing else - would they be both joined together to the one pipe in like a T-Connector
That isnt my tank - its a picture I have found - thats what the big tank looks like - the smaller one is the same but tiny
Should have a lid & insulated jacket, new tanks & replacment tanks need to comply with Bylaw 30 to prevent cistern from contamination, large tank is feeder & small one a expansion tank. If your in Scotland, then it's Bylaw 60, the different codes is that the overflow dip tube must be 38mm (1.5 inch) in order to satisfy Byelaw 60 in Scotland, whereas 22mm (3/4 inch) is suitable for Byelaw 30 in England and Wales.
I am in England - Staffordshire. So is there something I need to get done then - I already knew I needed to get a lid and insualtion. But is there anything else - such as the overflow sorted or something - Going to Majorca on Wednesday and will be up in the loft sometime soon after the holiday, so is there anything you suggest me looking at when i'm in there next - I'm going to check the overflow pipes since I can only see one outside thanks
See the white overflow pipe in post #9? Well, there should be one coming out of the wee tank too, and they will likely join together at some point before the pipe exits the loft - so no surprise only one pipe shows outside. If your system is old, it probably won't comply with the latest 'by-laws' (insect filters, lids, insulation etc) but that doesn't mean it's wrong or faulty. If it works, it works. Only bother upgrading when you upgrade yer whole system.
Lid & insulation jackets on both tanks is the only thing you need to do. If he decided to upgrade the whole system, I hope he would go for a combi or system boiler. & scrape all the loft tanks, so old fashion in the 21st century.
Well - we will be upgrading when we find the money to a combi boiler- to get rid of that damn cylindar - it takes up soo much space that we need so yeah
Majorca, nice, was in Puerto Pollensa in June. ☺☺☺ As for the overflows, I would think each tank should have their own, that or the head of the tanks are exactly the same level, otherwise if say the big tank overflowed it would, if the small tank was lower, push water into it causing it to overflow into the loft.
I've not had the opportunity to read all the posts, but in your openibg post you comment: ''so I was in the bathroom and came out and heard the water tank in the loft re-filling - its not overflowing or anything but what is running off this massive tank'' If your post is correct, then it is the big tank filing and not the small tank (your words) - ''...but what is running off this massive tank? '' Now, if it is the big tank, then my guess is that as you say nothing in the house was being used at the time, then my guess will be that one of your toilet valves is faulty hence tank running to replace lost water. Check all toilet pans in the house for any internal leaks. Alternatively, you had ''just come out of the bathroom''. Surely, you went in there to do something or the other. Are you sure you came out without flushing, washing your hands or running any appliances? JUST ASKING, that's all.
I did also say that everything cold - so thats kitchen toilets bath, shower and downstairs toilet/utility is ran directly from the mains supply not the tank, I had flushed the toilet and ran the cold tap but niether of which are connected to the tank - Everything from the house is connected to mains except hot stuff, thats ran of cylindars and tanks etc. - Also the upstairs toilet is like brand new, I was also in the tank yesterday putting a "Bloo block" in it and there wasn't any issues with the toilet at all - and also downstairs i went in because I was originally going to put the "Bloo Block" in that until I saw that still had a bit of the old block. The downstairs toilet is a "Siphon?" - The ball valve was working correctly - water level about 2cm from the top of the overflow pipe leading to outside and not any water could get into the "bowl" because when you pull the handel it pushed a bit of water up the "upside-down-U" and then the rest siphons out. the upstairs toilet i have not a clue how it works other than - the water comes in - goes to about 2 cm up the overflow then the floaty - small plastic bit pushed up to stop water - thats fine. As for the flushing mechanism well thats all crazy to me - from what I see the overflow is connected to the flush mechanism because when you push the button a bit of water comes up about half the overflow as all the water is rushing through - very powerful 1.6 toilet if you ask me. so yeah - after i heard the tank running and I knew that everything was connected to mains - i thought i'd try anyway - ran the upstairs tap for about 15mins and also flushed the toilet about 4 times aswell - tanks did not re-fill and was at the correct water level
Hi, I went into the bathroom - flushed toilet ran cold tap etc. no water running in loft - came out to check - then went and finished washing hands with the hot water - I then came out and heard the tank refilling - I can confirm is was doing the HW thanks
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